Touch The Sound (DVD)
APPROX. 98 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 2004 - MPA RATING: NR
" Glennie bangs away with pipes, hammers, sticks, her own fingers, and is as likely to be clanging a drum or an industrial guide wire or an aluminum sheet, all in the pursuit of new sounds.
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"Touch the Sound" is a formally sensitive documentary that stumbles only when it tries to be too precise. There is a schematic feeling to the "sound collages" that Riedelsheimer constructs throughout the movie, isolating each sound in a particular space in order to recreate the way Glennie explores the acoustics of each new environment she encounters. Perhaps her process is just too difficult to capture on film. That´s a minor problem, though. The film also loses focus when it sidetracks for a superficial investigation of Glennie´s childhood roots.
Neither of these flaws detracts much from this handsome and fascinating film. Evelyn Glennie is the star, but the camera work and sound design play equal attractions on the bill. Budding documentarians would do well to watch movies like this to understand just how important audiovisual design is in a non-fiction film. Just having an interesting subject might be enough to market a movie, but not to make the movie worth watching.
Video
The film is presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. The transfer is solid on all levels, if unspectacular. The colors don´t really pop the way I´d like them to, but the image is sharp and free fro any debris.
Audio
The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Surround and DTS Surround Sound. I do not have a DTS decoder, so I can´t evaluate the differences between the two options. The audio mix on the transfer is clear and sharp. The music and the isolated sound effects both sound great.
Extras
A "Making of" documentary (23 min.) provides evidence of just how constructed documentaries are. Riedelsheimer acknowledges, for example, that the crew spent nearly two hours driving around New York in order to find a bridge that had just the right crack in it.
The DVD also includes Deleted Scenes (30 min.), a Theatrical Trailer, a Filmmaker Bio, and an Evelyn Glennie Bio.
Film Value
"Touch the Sound" is a worthy follow-up to "Rivers and Tides." Unfortunately, it only received a limited release in the USA, never expanding to more than nine screens during its run. We may in the age of the documentary now, but I wonder if documentary distribution has already bifurcated in the same manner as fiction feature distribution: a handful of titles get wide releases, the rest are relegated to the art-house ghetto. "Touch the Sound" was one of the best documentaries of 2005. Too bad so few people got to see it, but as we like to say around here, that´s what make DVDs so great.
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